As 2025 comes to a close, Sportly looks back at a year that reshaped sports far beyond the scoreboard. Host Kavitha Davidson reflects on defining moments across leagues and borders—from historic performances by A’ja Wilson and Shohei Ohtani to the cultural impact of the NBA’s new media era, the resurgence of tennis rivalries, and the continued growth of women’s sports.

This year-end episode revisits some of Sportly’s most meaningful stories, including the political legacy of ping-pong diplomacy, the origins of women’s sports in the U.S., the Boston Marathon as a site of collective memory, Canada’s national identity through the Toronto Blue Jays, and the ongoing fight for Indigenous sovereignty in lacrosse ahead of the 2028 Olympics.

The episode also confronts the more complex truths of 2025: sports betting scandals, labor disputes, media consolidation, and what happens when billion-dollar sports institutions struggle to regulate themselves. 

Looking ahead, Kavitha explores what’s coming next: the 2026 World Cup in North America, the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, and the unanswered questions that will define the future of sports.

Sportly is a podcast about sports, culture, politics, and identity, and why the stories behind the games matter just as much as the games themselves.

Host: Kavitha A. Davison | Producer: Paroma Chakravarty I Executive Producer: Saadia Khan | Fact Checking and Research: Paroma Chakravarty I Sound Designer & Editor: Paroma Chakravarty I Immigrantly Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson | Other Music: Epidemic Sound | Cover Art Graphic Designer: Sarah DiMichele

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